Reaping the whirlwind: Senators seek action against Musharraf

PkMAP wants May 12 to be remembered as Black Day every year

ISLAMABAD:

Members of the upper house of parliament on Tuesday saluted the brave supporters of the rule of law who ventured out on the streets of Karachi on May 12, 2007 and were slain by armed groups.

They also demanded that cases be registered against former military ruler Pervez Musharraf and his aides.

“Cases should be registered against the dictator [Musharraf] and his accomplices for what they did in Karachi,” said Senator Usman Khan Kakar of the Pashtoonkhwa Milli Awami Party (PkMAP). He also lamented that Musharraf was seemingly “above the law”.



Everyone knows what had happened on May 12 eight years ago when 50 people lost their lives and around 500 others suffered injuries but “it is unfortunate that neither any case has been registered nor the chief justice [incumbent and former justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry] took notice,” the PkMAP noted. He said Musharraf “is patron of terrorists.”

Usman Khan proposed that 12 May should be commemorated every year as a ‘Black Day’ unless Gen Musharraf and his collaborators are not punished for their deeds.

Senate Chairman Raza Rabbani, who had been among the political workers who suffered at the hands of the then administration, recalled the movement, saying, “I was also in that procession and we bravely faced dictatorship.” He asked leader of the opposition to offer dua for the martyrs.

Later, senators from the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) also raised their voices against Musharraf, calling for a detailed report regarding the steps taken by the provincial government in the case.

“Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has been in power [in Sindh] for the last 10 years and it should hold an inquiry and reveal the facts,” said Senator Ilyas Bilour the Awami National Party (ANP).

NFC award

Earlier, in response to a calling attention notice regarding delay in announcement of the 8th NFC award, Commerce Minister Khurram Dastgir referred to the Article 161 of the Constitution and said the government has fulfilled the obligation by constituting 9th Commission on April 24, which is well ahead before the completion of five years. “Therefore, the question of a delay does not arise,” he added.

The minister said the first meeting of the commission has already taken place and the government was working expeditiously.

Upon that the Senate chairman said, “I do not want to give a ruling but the NFC award is supposed to be finalised and announced in five years [as per the Constitution].”

By the time the award would be finalised, he said, the budget for the next fiscal year would have been announced.

Raza Rabbani stated that the situation was not fitting and it was one of the reasons that almost all the members of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) assembly were protesting at the gates of the Parliament House today (Tuesday). The government should resolve the issues amicably, he added.

Khurram Dastgir, however, said the condition of five years was for constitution of the commission, not for finalisation of the award. “Don’t push me to give a ruling,” Rabbani remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 13^th, 2015.